The portion of Russia’s foreign trade settled in rubles has climbed to about 40 percent, while the share of the dollar and the euro has receded to just under 30 percent, a shift reported by RIA News. This reflects a broad restructuring in how international business is conducted and how Russia manages its offshore and cross-border flows in the face of global economic pressures.
Across major partners, Moscow and Beijing have moved toward using their own currencies for many routine settlements. The ruble and the yuan now play more prominent roles in bilateral trade and financial interactions, a move that aims to reduce exposure to Western currencies amid sanctions and political tensions. For Russian companies, this shift helps to mitigate certain risks when handling foreign payments and enhances strategic resilience by diversifying reserve and payment channels beyond the traditional dominance of the dollar and the euro.
However, there are practical nuances to paying in national currencies. In global trade relationships, Russia regularly encounters payments in a variety of currencies such as the Indian rupee, Uzbek som, Kazakh tenge, and Armenian dram. This creates a portfolio of non-dollar assets that can be less liquid than the more widely traded American and European currencies. Some partner currencies, notably the Turkish lira and the Indonesian rupiah, exhibit higher volatility and more complex exchange processes, which can complicate liquidity management and price stability for exporters and importers alike.
In addition, Moscow continues to require dollars and euros to defend the stability of its reserve funds and to ensure smooth operations in international finance. These currencies remain a practical peg for liquidity management, transaction settlement, and risk mitigation in periods of market stress, even as the share of settlements in national currencies grows. The broader question is how to balance the benefits of diversification with the need for reliable exchange mechanisms and convenient convertibility during times of global disruption.
Experts point to the potential of a BRICS-wide currency as a strategic solution to the currency mismatch problem. While a single BRICS currency could in theory simplify cross-border payments and reduce dependence on Western monetary regimes, most observers See that achieving such a monetary union would require substantial political will, economic alignment, and structural reforms among five diverse economies. The timeline for any practical realization is uncertain, and the immediate impact on global trade and reserve management remains a matter of debate among policymakers and industry leaders.
A senior banker at VEB.RF, previously the Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia, noted that the current prerequisites for abandoning the U.S. dollar are limited. He emphasized that creating a common BRICS currency would demand appropriate political and economic preconditions; even if the first steps succeeded, subsequent progress would likely face greater obstacles due to differences in monetary policy frameworks, fiscal discipline, and financial market depth. His assessment underscores the gradual nature of any major shift in currency usage and the importance of building robust, transparent mechanisms to support broader currency cooperation over time.